By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, Oct 23: The public service in Malaysia is seen as the most risky sector for corrupt practices, says Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
This, he said was based on the corruption trend in Malaysia from 2013 to 2018, where the public service sector contributed 63 percent of the total number of corrupt cases.
“This is due to poor governance in the field of procurement, law enforcement agencies as well as administration. The involvement of public officials will not only cause losses in public funds but also destroy the country,” Abdul Karim said at the launch of the ministry’s integrity week here today.
He acknowledged that MTAC’s sectors were no exception to the threat of corruption.
This was in view of many events and activities held using government funds such as organizing programmes, tourism events, government grants to non governmental organisations (NGO) and event organisers.
“The tendency to corruption is very high if not curbed at the administrative and implementation levels. Integrity and accountability are among the principles that should be present in every civil servant when performing their duties and responsibilities.
“Therefore, I urge the ministry’s staff and its agencies to cultivate integrity when administering government funds that they have been entrusted with. The Government has provided acts, ordinances, circulars, guidelines and SOPs as a guide to public officials,” Karim added.
In the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023, the government has identified areas that are at risk of corruption, namely; political governance; public sector administration; public procurement; legislation and judiciary; law enforcement and corporate governance.
Abdul Karim said integrity among civil servants is very important as each of them is required to act with confidence in his powers and duties with transparency, sincerity, no personal conflict, accountability and to comply with applicable laws and regulations.
“Quality civil servants are important for organisations and the country to success. The collapse of integrity will raise issues and problems such as corruption, malpractices and abuse of power,” he asserted. —DayakDaily
